New cocktail menu and beef nibbles at Gaucho
Last night I was invited to try out the new cocktail menu at Gaucho in Piccadilly. The Gaucho group has launched a new Autumn/Winter cocktail menu along with a ‘Beef in the Bar’ canape plate.
I caught up with Ian O’Reilly, Head of Bar and Beverages at Gaucho, over a couple of cocktails to find out a bit more about the new seasonal menu. According to Ian, the idea behind launching the ‘Beef in the Bar’ was to highlight what Gaucho originally made the restaurant successful – beef! They want to get back to their roots and remind people that Gaucho is not a high maintenance or pretentious place, rather their main mission is to serve the best Argentine beef and red wine with a side of chips. The beef nibbles in the bar are all a part of that idea. At the moment, they are serving Aberdeen Angus Air Cured Bresola, Beef & Chilli Salami and Chimmichurri Cured Salt Beef and in the future they’ll be curing the meats in their own malbec, Vina Patricia. I thought the beef nibbles were a nice little accompaniment to the cocktails.
The new cocktail menu is divided into 3 sections, aperitifs, signature cocktails and Buenos Aires classics. Ian described the signature cockatils as having something for everyone, he’s taken, in his opinion, some of the best of Argentine culture and artisanal products to create unique drinks. Gaucho stocks 4 or 5 artisanal products such as Herpedina, which is an orange liqueur only made in Argentina, which they use for one of their Buenos Aires classics cocktails.
As the evenings are now long, dark and chilly, I went for the whiskey based cocktails on the list. I tried the signature cocktail Smoked Ginger made with Bullit rye, the Buenos Aires Classic The Re-Fashioned made with Woodfood Reserve bourbon with a touch of espresso and their Club Negroni made with Haig Club. Manhattans are my default cocktail but these bourbon/whisky based drinks at Gaucho could make me forget my manhattans, at least while I’m at Gaucho.
The bar in Gaucho at Piccadilly is very comfy and cosy, a candle lit space just a stone’s throw from the busy and bustling Piccadilly Circus and last night it was quite busy early on but quieted down as people moved into the dining room. A great spot for cocktails on a cold winter’s night.